New Report on the Social Status of VET in Switzerland

A new summary brochure of our study on the social status of VET in Switzerland shows that there is overlap in the ability levels of young people in the VET and academic pathways. The study shows that VET is a high-status option and a case of school choice, not tracking.

By Katie Caves

A new summary brochure of our study on the social status of VET in Switzerland shows that there is overlap in the ability levels of young people in the VET and academic pathways. If VET had low status, we would expect all individuals with the ability to take academic schooling to choose that path. Similarly, if VET was a tracking situation instead of a choice, we would expect there to be a strong cutoff dividing the ability levels of the two pathways. Neither of those is the case, demonstrating that VET is a high-status option and a case of school choice, not tracking.

This figure from the brochure shows one of the main study findings. You can find Download the summary brochure here (PDF, 2.4 MB).

Figure from the Social Status report